First of all, a word concerning the Golden Hour compilation series: Golden Hour was a budget record label that took off sometime in '71 and lasted until the end of the decade. Most of their releases were by easy listening orchestras, comedy acts like Benny Hill etc. but there were also some by bona fide rock and pop stars such as The Kinks. I used to own a few of these Golden Hour compilations (Donovan, Status Quo, The Kinks). Tremendous value for money; you get "Sixty Minutes Of Entertainment" for very little - OK, I bought them second hand but even as new releases they were much cheaper than the average LP. Today's experts will tell you that it's impossible to cram 60 minutes of music in a single LP vinyl without a devastating loss of quality, so record companies split 45+ minute LPs into two heavy 180-gram vinyls. Unfortunately though, the sound isn't actually that improved because there just aren't true craftsmen cutting engineers any more; all you get is the appearance and weight of a quality product to justify its hefty price. On the other hand, while these old comps may not be the height of hi-fi, I assure you they provide a perfectly adequate listening experience compared to streaming, MP3 or most CDs.
For years, all I owned by the Kinks were these Golden Hour comps: Golden Hour Of The Kinks, Golden Hour Of The Kinks Vol. 2, and the double LP Lola, Percy & The Apeman Come Face To Face With The Village Green Preservation Society... Something Else! Put together, you get 99 tracks (!) virtually all of the band's 60's stuff. I believe I sold Vol.1 because it overlapped completely with a CD comp I bought later. By now I've also bought the complete Kinks discography of that period on CD, but I kept the other two Golder Hour LP's just because I sometimes find it more aesthetically pleasing listening to 60's and 70's music on vinyl. Vol.2 was released in 1973, and contained the band's early rock'n'roll/R&B stuff - I believe it includes the eponymous 1964 LP and 1965's Kinda Kinks almost in their entirety, missing the tracks already included in the Golden Hour Vol.1 compilation but adding some single-only releases. The original mono mixes have been "electronically re-channelled for stereo", fortunately in an unobtrusive manner. Unusually for The Kinks, these early albums also included covers by Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley etc. All of The Kinks' contemporaries (Beatles, Stones, Animals, Them) relied on similar covers in their live sets, and the versions The Kinks present us with are very pleasant and energetic in the band's early garage-rock style. That said, it is Ray Davis' own compositions that steal the show: not yet the mini-vignettes of everyday life and quaint Englishness he later became famous for, but certainly well-written pop songs like "Stop Your Sobbing", initially ignored but a big hit in the 70's for The Pretenders. "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" was likewise not an immediate smash but destined to become a much-covered garage rock classic. It's the only song here dating from 1966 - the rest come from 1964 - '65. It is amazing to think that, within those two short years, The Kinks managed to record these 24 songs as well as a dozen more that are even better and not included here - and yet the quality of the songwriting is consistent throughout. Most of them are raunchy garage rockers similar to their first big hit "You Really Got Me". "I Need You" is a worthy successor, with its crunchy riff and wild solo, while "It's All Right", "Got My Feet On The Ground", "I Gotta Move" and "Come On Now" are more rockers in that vein. Add the Stonesey R&B material, both original and American covers, and you have enough beat tunes to keep the go-go dancers occupied for quite some time - an unexpected feat by a band that later became synonymous with smart and elegant pop. Here we also get some lighter Beatlesey pop ("Such A Shame", "You Shouldn't Be Sad", "Don't Ever Change", "Something Better Beginning"), a few folkier ballad-type tunes ("So Long", "Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worrying 'Bout That Girl") and the country-ish "Wait Till The Summer Comes Along". "Don't You Fret" has a minimal arrangement, an acoustic folk ditty occasionally derailed by raunchy guitar. An unusual combination that reminded me of The White Stripes. Ultimately though, despite its generous 25-song tracklisting, this compilation only makes sense as an addendum to Golden Hour Vol.1. Yes it's pleasant listening by itself, but when you consider all the songs stemming from the same period but omitted ("You Really Got Me", "All Day & All Of The Night", "Tired Of Waiting For You", "Till The End Of The Day", "A Well-Respected Man", "I'm a Lover, Not a Fighter", "Set Me Free", "See My Friends" etc.), you realize this is a collection of leftovers, and who wants that?
***** for I'm Not Like Everybody Else, I Need You
**** for Wonder Where My Baby Is, Got Love If You Want It, Come On Now, It's All Right, Such A Shame, Look For Me Baby, Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy, I Gotta Move, Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worrying 'Bout That Girl, Stop Your Sobbing
*** for Don't Ever Change, Something Better Beginning, Dancing In The Street, Just Can't Go To Sleep, Long Tall Shorty, Got My Feet On The Ground, Don't You Fret, Wait Till The Summer Comes Along, Beautiful Delilah, Naggin' Woman, Cadillac, So Long, You Shouldn't Be Sad
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